White Hawk Select IPA is a traditional India Pale Ale. We’ve blended American West Coast Cascade Hops with a very generous dose of English Fuggle Hops. This combination makes for a very aromatic character, as well as a truly authentic English flavor which you must taste to believe. “Hopheads” will love this brew!

More User Reviews:

Pours a light golden color (pretty light compared to most American IPA's) witha one finger head that settles quickly leaving some traces of lace,pine,pine,and more pine in the aroma with some grapefruit letting you know this one is a hop tilted brew right off the bat.Like the aroma very hop tilted flavors big pine and citrus and pretty resiny but not enough fim maltiness there to keep the hops in check in my mind,the alcohol really shows itself after a few swallows.Hey if you are all about hops and nothing else this is it for you,me well I like some balance but not a horrible brew by any means. (601 characters)

Appearance  Light orange in color with a slight haze. The head frothed up nicely and hung around for a while, lacing the hell out of my Ruination glass.

Smell  This smells somewhat complex. It seems almost evenly balanced between malts and hops. The hops have some sugary sweetness to them, and the hops seem mostly floral with a hint of pine.

Taste  Wow, this is terrific! The malts are indeed sweetened with refined sugar along with some lovely caramel notes. The citrus hops join their cousins, Flora & Piney, to make up a fabulous profile. Theres even a little bit of black pepper to this IPA.

Mouthfeel  Bitter and dry but very refreshing. This ale is medium-bodied and extremely well-balanced.

Drinkability  Clearly I enjoyed this one much better than most of my BA Brothers. I will definitely buy again and keep on hand.

Update  I rated the 03 vintage on New Years Day 2004, so here it is December of 04 so I thought Id give it another look. I wouldnt change a thing about the descriptions or ratings from my original entry. I really enjoy this complex, balanced sample of the style. (1,129 characters)

Not impressed with this one at all. The best part was the pour, with a great golden hue and nice frothy head. The scent was hoppy but not in a normal way, very skunky. Taste was much the same, with a strange sour skunky bite mixed with a decent malt finish. There are WAY better IPA's to be spending your dough on than this. (324 characters)

Pours a fairly standard gold color. Not much smell here, maybe a bit of grapefruit. The taste is truly dreadful, more like turpentine than beer (I poured this one down the drain-probably won't need to buy Drano for a while!).

Overall, pretty bad beer here. Perhaps I got a bad bottle, but there's no date that I can see on it, so there's no way to tell how old it is. I'm avoiding this one forever. (401 characters)

No date on the bottle, but there is a damned fine painting of a bird. Beautiful plumage. Pours a deep polished brass gold with a white, slightly fizzy thead that settles into some serious lace. Your hop dollars at work. Citric, piney, slightly earthy hops and toasty malt in the nose, along with a hint of bread yeast.

That bird's bitter about something. Starts with a citrus/caramel/toasty balance then starts heading off in the bitter direction. Serious bittering hops in this one, along with distant caramel/apricot/grapefruit. I just had a great hop burp. Not the most balanced IPA I've ever had, but it does grow on you. Finishes with a yellow grapefruit and toast aftertaste that would go great with bacon and eggs. Seriously. Decent, slightly fizzy mouthfeel that improves with sitting.

I went into the beer store with a Lincoln and some change looking for a six. I came out with this one. Money well spent IMO - not in the Hop Devil/Impaled/Wagenr Valley class, but not far off. (992 characters)

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: The body has a golden amber color with a one inch collar of bright white foam. The head quickly settle to a wispy thin layer that makes some spotty lacing.

Smell: Its nose has the classic American citrus hops with notes of lemon, grapefruit and a touch of pine. I also get light toffee like malt underneath the hops.

Taste/Palate: Just as I was expecting from the aroma I get citrusy grapefruit rind and some pine like hop notes right up front. It's not over the top with hops but the balance in favor of the hops over the light base of candy like malt sweetness. Hop flavor runs right into the finish and gives it a gentle bitter fade. An easy drinking medium body rounds out the palate.

Smell: Big estery alcohol within the semi pungent hop aroma not much for malt.

Taste & Mouthfeel: Pretty smooth and full bodied. Hop bitterness is there, pungent and piney with a prickly finish. Lots of warming alcoholic esters, hints of diacetyl and toasted grain. Citric tones influence the palate. Finish is much like the start, lots of hop flavour.

Notes: A typical American brewed IPA. Good drinking if you like lots of hops, a bit off balance IMO the alcohol character gets in the way too much. (635 characters)

Appearance: Pours a clear, golden body that is awash with tiny, carbonation bubbles. The tight, offwhite, head rises to 3 cm, and stays around for several minutes. Abundant, sheet lacing makes this ale a joy to behold.
Aroma: The nose is dominated by fresh, citrusrind aromas of hopleaf. lemonrind and grapefruit are predominant, with hardly any malt noticeable here.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, with a moderate hop sting.
Taste: Hop leaf flavor is very fresh, with citrus rind dominating. This ale is somewhat dry, and a pleasant, bitterness continues from start to finish. The finish is dry and bitter, but the aftertaste is, surprisingly, clean.
Drinkability: This is an excellent, American IPA, that will please the hopheads. An ideal accompaniment to an aged, sharp cheddar or blue cheese. I'm glad I bought a couple of sixers of this IPA. (847 characters)

Appearance: clear, orange/brown in color, high carbonation, minimal inch head

Smell: citrus hops, bread, and malt

Taste: bread then a sharp hit of citrus grapefruity hops

Mouthfeel: very bitter, medium bodied, moderate carbonation

Drinkability: A hop head may love thisbut it is an average IPA to me. This is on the bitter side. The alcohol is fairly well hidden. I have not been a fan of Mendocino's brews and will pass on this one in the future. (451 characters)

The beer pours a dirty yellow color with a white head. The aroma is toffee and grass. The flavor is toffee, caramel, fruit, citrus and grass. There are a lot of flavors going on, but they are kind of a mess and don't really work to well together. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. (333 characters)

Taste: Lots of oily and citric hop bite , tongue coating bitterness in a mostly pleasant way , the malt is back there and shows more towards the finish - trying its best to balance out the big oily hop character with some slightly toasty barley, the bitterness sticks around for quite a while in the finish and the alcohol is felt in the throat a bit.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied , mildy slick feel.

Drinkability: Its a good ipa , but man is it bitter! I like the intense hop profile for a change on the bitter side , but i would probably go for alot of other ipas before this one. (778 characters)

Taste: Good dose of acidic, grapefruit flavor. Malt backbone is thin but the sweetness is noted. Bitterness is also quite evident. Gets more intense at the end, with an oily resin on the lips and lingering bitterness on the palate. The ABV remains hidden throughout.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. A nice level of smoothness before the btterness kicks in at the end.

Drinkability: Nothing too major with this one. Hoppy and bitter, but at a tame level. Just your average, middle-of-the-road IPA. (825 characters)

Pours a slightly darker golden color. Maybe call it copper? Mostly clear but, slight filmy under close review. Not much of a head though. Did not have much of one to start with and goes away fast. Smells really good. You get a nice whiff of the fruits. Rather crisp. Taste is a not as good as the smell. Has an aftertaste that an IPA should not have so strongly. The taste has that very salty taste that I usually get with beer with a high degree of aftertaste. I have had better IPAs than this by far. Recommendation: buy another IPA. (535 characters)

Not really my kind of IPA; more of an English-style. Pours light copper with a medium head. Aroma of weak hops, flowers, and (surpisingly) peaches. Taste is astringent-bitter with a metallic bite. The back is sweet, like a lot of other Mendoncino ales. Watery mouthfeel. Dry finish. Blandly enjoyable. (301 characters)